National Geographic Examines Challenges To Ending Open Defecation

Jul 27, 2017

National Geographic: Nearly a Billion People Still Defecate Outdoors. Here’s Why.
“…Today open defecation is on the decline worldwide, but nearly 950 million people still routinely practice it. Some 569 million of them live in India. … In 2015 the United Nations called for an end to open defecation by 2030. … Achieving the global milestone, number six on the U.N.’s list of Sustainable Development Goals, would radically improve public health: Diseases caused by poor sanitation and unsafe water kill more children, some 1.4 million per year, than measles, malaria, and AIDS combined. It also would help alleviate poverty and hunger and improve education…” (Royte, August 2017).